The Russellville Police Department (RPD) rounded out its force with a secret weapon — Patrol Officer Tammy Marcoe, the department’s only female officer.

“I have different strengths in different areas than the male officers,” Marcoe said. “Teamwork definitely comes into play. We compile the strengths of the whole shift.”

Marcoe, 29, left her post of four years at the Paragould Police Department to join the RPD in 2012, which was a homecoming of sorts.

“I moved here [to Russellville] from California as a young child,” Marcoe said.

She graduated Russellville High School in 2002 and will receive her bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock (UALR) in May. She has served in the National Guard for 13 years.

She was working her way through college when she decided to become a police officer.

“I worked as a dispatcher to get through college,” she said. “It was an eye-opening experience.”

She dispatched at Pope County 911 for four years before becoming an officer.

Marcoe is the first of her family to be in law enforcement.

She is engaged, but said her fiancé supports her career.

“He’s also in law enforcement, so he gets it,” she said.

Drew Latch, RPD public information officer, said Marcoe brings a different perspective.

“She may feel a stronger emotional pull, which isn’t a bad thing,” he said.

When it comes to how criminals view a female officer, Marcoe said women show her less respect than men.

“Male offenders aren’t as likely to try to fight me as they are a male officer, but female offenders are five times as likely,” she said.

In spite of the ups and downs, Marcoe said she loves her job.

“The best thing about my job is not knowing what to expect,” she said. “You never have the same day twice.”